Display rack



Nov. 7, 1967 Filed Oct.

L. H. BEST DISPLAY RACK ll, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet l lll Hill' I Leon H BeS' mfemjwm, MEM

fH-torrzes Nov. 7, 1967 L.IH. BEST 3,351,211

DISPLAY RACK Filed Oct. 11, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 dll rtorne Nov. 7,1967 H. BEST 3,351,211

DISPLAY RACK Filed Oct. ll, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet-S vaupg.:

geraak' Inventor Leon 'iest United States Patent C) 3,351,211 DISPLAYRACK Leon H. Best, Galva, Ill., assignor to John H. Best & Sons, Inc.,Galva, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Filed Oct. 11, 1965, Ser. No.494,318 1 Claim. (Cl. 211-169) ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE A rack fordisplaying rugs is constructed in Such a fashion as to support manyforaminous metal sheets enabling the rug samples to be hung thereon foreffective display and easy examination.

This invention relates to display racks for displaying rug samples andthe like at a point of sale, and the primary object of the presentinvention is to enable a Wide variety 0f samples to be neatly andconveniently displayed for comparison by a customer. Another object ofthe present invention is to construct such a rack inexpensively and in afashion so that the individual samples may be easily compared as totexture, color and design; `and an object of the present inventionrelated to the foregoing is to construct a display rack for rug samplesand the like that enables many samples to be appealingly displayedwithin a minimum space.

Another object of the present invention is to be able easily to convertto various degrees of utility a display rack for rug samples or thelike.

Other and further objects of the present invention will be apparent fromthe following description and claim and are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings which, by way of illustration, show preferredembodiments of the present invention and the principles thereof and whatis now considered to be the best mode contemplated for applying theseprinciples. Other embodiments of the invention embodying the same orequivalent principles may be used and structural changes may be made asdesired by those skilled in the art without departing from the presentinvention.

In. summary, the invention resides in a floor-mounted rack made up ofmany sections, including swinging frames, supporting foraminous metalsheets which enable rug samples to be hung thereon. The rack isstabilized by angled end sections, and there is a center section soarranged as to enable two sets of such swinging frames to be used.

In the drawings:

FIG. l is a front elevation of one form of rack structure constructed inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an end elevation of the structure illustrated in FIG. lsubstantially on the line 2-2 of FIG. l;

FIG. 3 is a rear elevation of the structure shown in FIG. l butillustrating rug samples supported by the rack;

FIG. 4 is a front elevation similar to FIG. l but illustrating swingingframes hinged to the center section of the rack;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary detail view on an enlarged scale of a portion ofa frame;

FIG. 5A is a view taken substantially on the line SA-SA of FIG. 5;

FIG. 6 is a top view of the upper face of the lower cross bar of thecenter section;

FIG. 7 is a schematic top elevation of a modified form of rack structureunder and in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 8 is a perspective View of the structure schematically illustratedin FIG. 7.

One form of rack constructed in accordance with the present invention isillustrated at 10 in FIG. 1 as inclusive of a center section 11 and apair of end sections 12 ICC and 14 in the form of rigid frames whichrespectively extend from opposite ends of the center section at apredetermined angle sufficient to impart stability to the rack as awhole, while presenting rug samples in a neat, compact array forinspection as will be apparent from the description to follow.

The center section 11 comprises a pair of spaced, parallel uprights 16and 17. These are joined and spaced by a pair of upper and lower crossbars 20 and 21 secured at their ends to the inner faces of the uprightsin any desired way, thereby presenting a rigid rectilinear supportingstructure.

The center section as thus constructed serves to support a sheet ofperforate material of sufiicient strength to enable many individual rugsamples to be arranged thereon, and advantageously for this purpose Iemploy a rectilinear sheet of expanded metal 25, the openings of whichenable' clips or similar fasteners to be pivotally arranged therein forsupporting rug samples as shown in my Patent No. 3,195,733.

The sheet of perforate, expanded metal is edged off with edging ormolding 26 that may be fastened thereto, and the edging that confinesthe sheet 25 is secured to the center section in lany desired fashion asby finishing nails or the like, thereby disposing the sheet 25 in avertical plane.

The two end sections 12 and 14 are similar in construction, such thateach includes an outer upright 30 and a pair of upper and lower endsection cross bars 31 and 32. The outer ends of the end section crossbars are rigidly secured in spaced relation to the related upright 30.The

inner ends of the cross bars 31 and 32 are beveled at a 45 angle, andtie plates 35 are fastened thereto. Each of the tie plates includes apair of openings into which are entered bolts which secure the endsections to the forward faces of the center section uprights 16 and 17as shown in FIG. l. Resultantly, the two end sections extend outward 0fthe ends of the center section at a convient 45 angle.

Each of the end sections includes an inner, upright spacer 37 fastenedat the upper and lower ends thereof to the cross bars 31 and 32 inwardof the tie plates as shown in FIG. l. The arrangement is rectilinear sofar as concerns the members which define the limits of the end sections.Again, each end section 12 and 14 supports a rectilinear sheet of firm,perforate material 39 such as expanded metal. To this end, edging 40 isarranged about the periphery of each sheet 39, and the edging is securedto the members of the related end frame by finishing nails or the like.The openings in the perforate sheets 39 enable rug sample support clipsto be entered therein as disclosed in my aforesaid patent.

Referring to FIG. 3, I have shown one aspect of utility of the presentinvention wherein rug samples RS are arrayed in a cascade 4relationshipfrom top to bottom of the -center section and the two end sections. FIG.3 is a rear elevation of the structure illustrated in FIG. ldemonstrating that rug samples can be arranged at bot-h the front andrear sides of the rack structure 10, and it will be recognized from thisthat the arrangement of parts described above enables a stable supportto be realized while at the same time presenting many 4samples forcustomer inspection in a neat, convenient and compact array.

In addition to the foregoing, the present structure enables swingingframes, displaying additional rug samples, to be arranged selectively ateither the front or rear side, or both, of the center section of therack 10. Thus, and referring to FIG. 4, a plurality of swinging frames45 are disposed in vertical planes between the end sections 12 and 14.Each such frame is of rectilinear form including a pair of spaceduprights 46 and upper and lower cross bars 47 and 48 joined to oneanother. Within the rectilinear connes thus afforded, a sheet ofexpanded metal 50 is mounted and supported, and again the edges of theexpanded metal are neatly faced off with edging as 51.

Preferably the frame elements 46, 47 and 48 are of thin metal tubing soconfigured as to present a pair of spaced flanges which afford theedging 51 as shown in FIGS. 5 and 5A, and between which peripheralportions of the expanded metal sheet 50 are disposed. The ends of thetubes 46, 47 and 48 can be joined together by tackwelds, or any otherconvenient way.

The frames 45 are thus yconstructed to enable rug ysamples to besupported thereon in the manner described above, and again both sides ofeach swinging frame may be used for this purpose. In order to facilitateinspection of the rug samples, each frame is hinged to the centersection in a manner now to be described.

The upper and lower cross bars 20 and 21 of the center section are eachformed with a pair of rows of openings 21A and 21B as illustrated inFIG. 6. The openings in the lower crossbar 21 face upwardly; those inthe upper cross bar 20 face downwardly. The inwardmost upright 4 6 ofeach frame section, FIG. 5, surrounds a long hinge pin 55 which is ofgreater length than the tubular upright 46. Spaced upward from the lowerend SSL of each hinge pin 55 is a spacer 56 rigidly secured thereto, andthis serves as a support for the tubular upright 46, limiting downwardmovement thereof. The upper end 55U of the pin 55 projects free of theupper end of the tubular upright 46.

In hinging a frame as 45 to the center section, the frame is firstarranged so that the ends 55L and 55U of the pin 55 are approximately atthe lrelated openings in the center section cross bars, serving as hingesupports. The frame as 45 is then manipulated (and the parts are sodimensioned) as to enter the upper end SSU of the pin 55 in the relatedhinge support opening in the upper cross bar 20 of the center section.The lower end SSL of the pin 55 is then moved inward to be aligned withthe related hinge support opening in the lower cross bar of the centersection, whereupon the lower end of the pin 55 is then allowed to dropfreely into this opening, with the upper end retained freely in therelated hinge support opening in the upper lcross bar of the centersection.

It was noted above that there are two rows of hinge support openings inthe upper and lower cross bars of the center section,and in hinging theframes as 45, FIG. 4, to the center section, only one row of openings(as 21A) is utilized. These openings in the upper and lower cross barsof the center section are of course aligned on vertical axes. This islikewise true of the second row of openings as 21B, and this second rowof openings enables yet another set of swinging frames 45B to behingedly connected to the opposite side of the center section 11 asshown in FIG. 7. By the same token, additional end sections 12A and 14A,FIG. 7, identical in yconstruction to the sections 12 and 14, can bejoined to the center section uprights, enabling additional rug samplesto be displayed, and as illustrated in FIG. 8.

It will be seen from the foregoing that a rack constructed in accordancewith the present invention has many degrees of utility insofar asconcerns convertibility to numerous display arrangements for rug samplesand the like. I am able to achieve a great degree of flexibility in thisregard and in such a way as to enable numerous samples to be inspectedand compared by a customer.

Hence, while I have illustrated and described preferred embodiments ofmy invention, it is to be understood that these are capable 0f variationand modification, and I therefore do not wish to be limited to theprecise details set forth, but desire to avail myself of such changesand alterations as fall within the purview of the following claim.

I claim:

A Hoor-supported display rack for supporting rug samples or the like andcomprising a center section formed from a pair of spaced uprights (16,17) having lower ends yfor engagement with the floor and `upper andlower spaced cross bars (20, 21) extending between and connected to theuprights, a pair of end sections each including a pair of rigid frames(12, 14-12A, 14A) extending at an angle from opposite ends of saidcenter section, each of said end section frames including an upper and alower cross bar (31, 32) joined to an inner upright (37), said upper andlower end section cross bars having inner ends provided with angledattaching plates (35) in turn rigidly joined to respective ones of thecenter section uprights and having an end section upright (30) joined tothe outer ends of the end section Icross bars, said end section uprightshaving lower ends for engagement with the floor,

whereby the uprights (16, 17) serve to support in part the end sectionswhich are supported in further part by the end section uprights, each ofsaid rigid frames supporting a sheet of perforate metal (39) enablingrug samples to be hung thereon, the cross bars of the center sectionincluding a plurality of hinge support openings arranged in two rows(21A, 21B) on spaced predetermined vertical. axes, a rst set of swingingframes (45A) at one side of the center section and supporting sheets ofperforate metal (50) for suspending other of such samples, said swingingframes each including an upright having hinge pins thereon hinged torespective ones of the hinge support openings in one row for freeswinging move ment between the related end sections, and a second set ofswinging frames (45B) at the other side of the center'` section and eachsupporting sheets of perforate metal for suspending still other samples,the frames in the second set each including an upright having hinge pinsthereon i hinged to respective ones of the hinge support openings in ithe second row for free swinging movement between the related endsections, said swinging frames being nested within the rigid framesofthe end sections.

References Cited JOHN PETO, Primary Examiner.

A, FRANKEL, Assistant Examiner,

